


The Movie Education of Nikki Jardine

by JessBakesCakes



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-11
Updated: 2011-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-24 12:45:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/263608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessBakesCakes/pseuds/JessBakesCakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony's trying to solve a case and bring Agent Jardine up to speed in the subject of movies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Movie Education of Nikki Jardine

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for rodlox for the ncis-ficathon. The prompt was "Tony and Agent Jardine are working (or are in transit). (movie references, if possible)"

Tony DiNozzo and Nikki Jardine stood in silence for a moment as Major Varnai left the room. Tony scratched the back of his neck as he started to think about the case. “There’s something about Varnai I don’t like.” Tony started to pace around the room, as though it was helping him concentrate.

“What do you mean?” Nikki closed her box of wet wipes and placed it on the floor next to her cot.

Tony shrugged. “Gut feeling. You ever watch a movie where the good guy’s actually the bad guy? Or where there’s a good guy helping out the other good guys, but then he turns against them?”

“Not that I can recall.”

“It’s actually a lot more common than you think. Like, take _Top Gun_ for example. Maverick is the good guy, you know? But he’s actually not strictly good. I mean, he’s the movie hero, but he doesn’t listen to anyone. He’s always blowing the superiors off and flying wherever the hell he wants to. He doesn’t do anything evil, necessarily, but there’s some gray area in his morality.”

“I’ve never seen _Top Gun_ , but isn’t Maverick Tom Cruise? He’s supposed to be good, isn’t he? If you’re saying Varnai is a potential suspect, then your theory’s not really lining up with your movie reference. Is _Top Gun_ a war movie?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Are you questioning my ability to relate movies to real life? Because I have quite a legacy at NCIS of applying my cinematic knowledge to cases.”

“I’m not questioning your ability to apply your knowledge. I’m questioning the leap from ‘movie protagonist with authority issues’ to ‘Varnai should be considered a suspect’.” Nikki tossed some of the contents of her backpack on the floor and sat down.

Nikki was right. In his head, it made perfect sense, but Tony knew it wasn’t a perfect metaphor. Besides, arguing about moral relativity and how it applies to movie characters would be an argument lost on Jardine. “Okay, let’s try it with another movie. It’s a _Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. 1963. Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney. Spencer Tracy’s character is a cop tracing some stolen money, and when they finally find it, he tries to steal it for himself.”

“Haven’t seen that one, either.”

“I’m beginning to believe that I’m the only person in the universe who watches movies.”

Nikki shook her head. “I think you’re just the only person who watches such a wide variety of movies.”

Tony took a seat on his cot and opened the case file once again. She was missing the point. These movies were classics. At least in his eyes, they were. “Okay, but even so. There’s something about that guy that just doesn’t sit right with me, you know? He reminds me of someone. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s there. I’ll figure it out.”

“Other than movie references, what do you have to back that up?”

Tony sighed. He began to sift through the papers in the manila folder. At least McGee and Ziva (usually) listened to him when he used movies for inspiration to solve a case. And even if they didn’t listen, they could find a way to bridge the gap between his thoughts and the case. If he and Nikki were to ever work together again, it would have to be after she saw a good portion of the movies from several lists of favorites.

He continued to look through the case file. “It was never actually a fully developed theory, Jardine. It was a weird… musing, if you will. Musings do not always inspire leads. They’re… brainstorming. That’s it. I’m good, but I’m not Gibbs. Besides, Ali Mahmoud has the revenge factor. Ziva did say that Mahmoud’s brother was killed and Rankin’s men were involved somehow.”

“I’m guessing there are hundreds of movies that utilize the ‘revenge for a family death’ plot.”

“Probably thousands.” Tony closed the laptop and gathered the papers he had been reading. He tapped them together on the surface of the computer, straightening them before placing them back in the manila folder.

“And Abby thought I was the neat freak.”

Tony laughed, slipping the file into his backpack. “I’m not so sure this qualifies as neat freak behavior, but if it’s a compliment regarding my abilities to organize my case files, I will gladly accept. And ask that you tell Gibbs all about it upon our return.”

***  
After Gibbs ordered that Tony and Nikki were to leave on the next flight out, the two returned to their room to gather their things. Tony packed the last of his belongings and strapped on his helmet. “Ready to go?”

“Almost.” Nikki crouched down and grabbed her box of wet wipes. She attempted to shove them in her backpack, but was unsuccessful.

“Having trouble? You’d probably have better luck if you folded those clothes.”

“I got it.” Nikki zipped the backpack shut. “You going to give me the ‘don’t be Maverick’ speech on the flight? Or did you finish out there while we were with Jameel?”

“You’re catching on, Jardine.” Tony adjusted the strap of his backpack. “I don’t think so, though. I don’t want the nickname to stick.”

“I thought you said he was a good character, but not completely good because he did that kind of stuff. At least, that was the point you were trying to make.”

Nikki had a decent argument. But Tony wasn’t so sure she was ready for such a prestigious movie pseudonym. “You see, giving someone a nickname related to a fictional movie character can always be tricky. If you did something un-Maverick, then we’d have to take it away. And I’m pretty sure Maverick didn’t keep a box of wet wipes in his stuff.”

Nikki rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he didn’t, DiNozzo.”

***  
A few months later, Tony stood in the elevator, texting. Nikki walked through the doors, slipped her hand inside the sleeve of her sweater, and pressed the button for her floor.

“Good thing you covered your hand. A guy came in and sneezed on that very button right before you showed up.” Tony flashed a smile in Nikki’s direction.

“Very funny. Haven’t seen you in a while. Heard you were agent afloat.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s good to be back. How have you been? Still building up that résumé?” Tony dropped his phone into his pocket.

Nikki smiled. “Yes, I’m still working on that. And I’m doing well. I finally saw _Top Gun_.”

“Really? Look at you, doing your homework. What’d you think?”

“It was pretty good. I couldn’t decide whether you were more Goose or Iceman, though.”

“On a regular basis, or on that particular mission?”

“The mission.”

The elevator doors opened and Tony and Nikki stepped out. “I’d say a little of both. Take care, Grasshopper. Keep watching those movies.”

“Grasshopper? I thought you said no movie nicknames.”

“It’s originally from a TV show. I’ll let this one slide.”


End file.
